Bottom Line: Although it's nothing boldly original, Animals: Colors & Games visits all the traditional learning tools for toddlers including coloring farm and zoo animals as well as simple games for reinforcing color identification.
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iPad/iPhone (FREE w/IAP)
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This app has no ads, parent-protected external links to iTunes and a single in-app purchase of $1.99 to unlock the full app.
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Animals: Colors & games introduces children to colors with the use of two coloring books featuring animals and mini-games. The home screen opens to show choices of zoo, farm or mini-games along with standard fare of settings, parent area, album and links to rate and see more Tiny U games. Settings choices include default sounds and narration or the ability to record your voice for colors. This section also allows users to turn off or on color names, sounds and music. The parent section is (and the rate us, other apps sections) is parent-protected. In this section, adults can subscribe to the newsletter, see other Tiny U games, write a review, contact the developer and read the privacy policy. The zoo coloring area comes with two free coloring pages, the wolf and frog. There are eight other pages that are locked before full purchase that include parrot, owl, snake, monkey, bear, elephant, lion and penguin. After making a selection, the animal animates and makes its sound before opening the page to reveal 21 color choices and the tools to use them. Kids can color 
with the paintbrush, pick the paint can to fill in sections, choose the rainbow to tap sections of the picture and fill pre-selected colors into the illustration and either erase certain areas individually or toss the whole thing in the trash and start from scratch. Children then tap the star and can take a photo of their art, return home, view their gallery or choose a new picture to color. The farm area is exactly the same as the zoo section except that the two free coloring pages are a dog and chicken and the locked pages are sheep, cow, duck, mouse, cat, horse, donkey and goat.
There are three mini-games in the app, but only one is unlocked until full purchase. The unlocked version is Yummy Basket and this game presents kids with a colored basket and nine food items of varying colors. Children match the 
basket color with food color. Color Puzzle present three colored circles and below them are three food choices with matching circles around them. Children play by placing the food choices in the correct circles. The last mini-game, Balloon Pop, features an animal suspended in the air by a bunch of multi-colored balloons. Kids play by matching the color asked for (and shown in the lower right corner) with the balloons suspending the animal to slowly pop the balloons until the animal reaches the ground. 
The app is colorful and well-illustrated with good sound. I found no technical issues while examining the app, including the option to record your own voice which can be a little hit and miss in some apps. There is no landscape option in the app which can get a bit awkward for little hands and I'd like to see that happen in future updates. The app is solidly made, but I didn't see anything to make it stand out from a crowded children's app market, especially since so little is included in the free section. My suggestion is to go ahead and download and take a look to see if it suits your child's needs. You can't go wrong with free!
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Cynthia has been reviewing farm and coloring apps for four years. Where does the time go?
*Smart Apps for Kids was paid a priority review fee for this post.
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